Okay, I had forgotten one part from the start of this, but now it's here :3 And where have the star-marks gone o.O


"I can't believe this!" Tyson yelled. He and his friends stood in front of festival area talking about what they had just heard.

"I can't believe it either", Max agreed. "Can't Boris just learn his lesson?"

"At least this time he doesn't do anything in public, like before", Ray said.

"Yet", Kenny added.

"Yet", Ray admitted.

"Wonder what he's up to this time", Hilary thought.

"Probably the same old", Tyson replied. "Trying to take over the world or something."

"But hey, why are you all so worried?" Daichi asked. "You've beaten Boris before. Even BEGA players weren't that strong after all."

"If I remember correctly Daichi, you lost to them" Hilary said.

Daichi fumed. "Shut it." The girl giggled.

"But you saw their strength", Mariah added. "They knocked all of your blades out." Others looked down at this comment. Sure, their enemy seemed stronger this time.

"What are you all whimpering at?" Kai asked. He had stood bit further from others. "The enemy has always been stronger, but there's always been a way to beat them, and so there is now."

Everybody looked at him, then to each others.

"Kai's right", Tyson said. "We've beaten Boris before, we can do it again!"

"Yeah!" Others agreed.

"We only have one problem", Max stated. "We have no idea where Boris is."

"Oh yeah…" Tyson replied. "Those guys probably won't take us to him."

"Or maybe they will", Ray said. Others looked at him. "Isn't that just what he wants?"

"Well, might be true. Too bad we just let them go."

"Yeah. Too bad we let them go already."

"I'm sure we'll still bump into them", Hilary said.

Same time at the roof of a high building the certain five looked down to the street.

"Aww, why didn't we just steal their bits there, Zack?" Pinya complained.

"Yeah, we had SOO good chance", Ru added.

"Have you idiots forgotten our plan?" Aleia scolded.

"Easy there, guys", Zack said. "Well get them eventually. And you know the plan; we'll take one, and they all come to us voluntarily."

"Who are you planning to target first?" Suzaku asked.

"I have an idea. Something far more fun."

"Care to share?" Ru asked. Zack smirked.

"You know that friends are important, right?" Others also smirked as they started to get their leader's plan.

...

"Man, this Boris guy really seem to hate you", Mira said.

It was evening two days after the summer festival. Ryou and Mira had dropped by at Tyson's place and he had told them what had happened.

"I can't see why, we have only stopped him from taking over the world for two times, that's all", Tyson joked.

"Yeah, there is absolutely no reason for him to be mad", Ryou laughed.

"By the way..." Tyson said. "Why did you two only come here to play my Playstation!" He asked from Max and Mira.

"My own is broken", Max replied.

"And I wanted to try this game when I saw Max playing it", Mira replied. Tyson sighed and left them there. Hilary and Ray laughed. Daichi was watching the two to play, sometimes asking something pretty weird, like "how did that happen?" or "why did you do that!". Kai had left somewhere a while ago.

"Besides Mira, did you notice your last bus leaves in less that half an hour?" Kenny commented raising his head from his computer where he had been uploading the data from their situation.

"What? Yieks!" Mira lived quite far, and busses there go very rarely. They turned off the game.

"I think I'm leaving too", Ray said. "I promised Mariah I'll be back early."

"I'll come too", Hilary said. Other boys decided to stay still for a while.

..

"Excuse me. I'd like to have my key. Room 147", Ray said to the lady behind the reception desk.

"Yes, sir. Oh, and you have a letter." She handed the key with an envelope.

Ray took both, wondering from who the letter was. "Thank you. Did you happen to see the person who brought this."

"Um, no, sorry. My swift just started and it was here already then."

"I see."

The thunder clasped just when he was placing the key to its hole. It slipped from his hand and fell to the floor. Ray bend down to pick it. Just then he noticed that there weren't any voices in the room.

"I wonder if she's already gone to bed", he thought in his head. He quickly picked the key, opened the door and walked in, kicking his shoes off at the same time.

"Mariah?" he called. No answer. Her shoes were also gone. He checked the kitchen, the toiled, the balcony.

For some reason he suddenly had very bad feeling. Then he saw something pink on the nightstand between the beds. It was Mariah's ribbon and Galux. Weird, she never leaves without those.

Ray sat on another of the beds and took out the envelope he had just got. He opened it and took out the piece of paper there was and read it.

He jumped up after reaching the end. It really didn't say that? He re-read it twice to make sure. Yes it did…

Ray looked out of the window as the rain drops started to fell.

...

Hilary walked trough the streets. She had just separated from Ray. The sky was covered with dark clouds. She sped up her steps in case it would rain soon.

Few people passed her, but otherwise it was all quiet, except for the cicadas.

Suddenly sky rumbled loudly. Hilary startled.

"Just a thunder", she sighed. She turned from the last corner before her house and bumped into someone. "Oh. I'm very sorry." She looked at the person – and gasped.

It started to rain.

...

"Are you sure it's them?"

"Yes."

"Like, really, absolutely sure?"

"Yes! How many times I have to say it?"

Ray had just arrived back to Grangers' dojo and showed others the letter.

"Sorry, I just wanted to be sure", Tyson said and handed the paper to Kai, who had came back just a while before Ray. Ryou instead had left while ago.

"Well, this sure is different from Brois's usual course of action, kidnapping people", Max stated.

"You can never know what he has in mind when you talk about him", Kai said.

"True."

Kenny stopped typing at his laptop. "So, the letter said this: Good Ray, we've got your little girlfriend. If you want to see her again… well, you know what we want from you and your friends. And that's all?"

"Exactly", Ray replied.

"What's the point in that letter if they don't even name time and place?" Daichi wondered.

"You've watched those cop shows again, right?" Tyson sighed.

"Well doesn't it happen like that in real life then?"

"Oh shut up already."

"And, Ray, would you mind to stop walking back and fort", Kenny requested.

"No. I can't just sit still", Ray told.

"Look, we understand you're worried", Max said, "but-"

"Understand? You have no idea how I feel. My girlfriend has been kidnapped by a crazy man who presumably has who knows how bad things in his mind. How could you understand my feelings, you haven't been in this situation."

"Yeah, well… we…" Max stuttered.

Ray closed his eyes." He opened the door and walked out of the room.

"W-wai—" Tyson was about to go after Ray, but Kai stopped him.

"Let him be."

"But…"

"Ray's shocked about what happened to Mariah, it's better if we let him be alone for awhile."

Tyson looked at his friend, and then after the other one.

...

Max woke up during the night. He looked around and remembered he had stayed at Tyson's place.

He got up and thought of going to the bathroom. Then he noticed Ray sitting outside of the room. He went to him.

"Hey."

White Tiger boy raised his head and look behind him. "Hey."

Max sat next to him. "You can't sleep?" Ray shook his head.

"Hey, Max, I'm sorry I bashed you like that."

Max smiled. "It's okay. I'm sure I would be just the same if I were at your situation."

They watched at the star sky for a second.

"You know, at some point I do know how you feel." Ray looked at Max with a question. "Well, actually it's not really same at all but… I know how it feels when you can't be with someone dear to you even if you wanted to. Since, when I came to Japan, I had to leave someone I really liked there to US. I really missed her."

Max laughed. "Although, that didn't for last too long really, since she came here too."

"That Rini girl?"

The blonde boy blushed and nodded.

Ray smiled. "But, maybe that proves no matter if we're separated from our loved ones, we're always able to see them again after some time."

"Yeah, maybe."

"I hope that works now too."

"Of course it does!" Max said. "Don't worry, we'll save Mariah in no time!"

Ray nodded and smiled.

...

Next morning boys got another, pretty unpleasant, surprise.

"Wake up, guys! Now!" Hiro yelled at the door, letting the sunlight into the dojo where they were sleeping. Boys raised their heads lazily from the pillows, each gotten more or less sleep that night.

"What is it?" Tyson asked yawning.

"Hilary's mom just called. She did leave yesterday?"

"Yeah, with me", Ray replied.

"What's up?" Max asked.

"She didn't come home for the night and doesn't answer to phone. So her mom called here if she had stayed."

"No, she clearly left", Tyson said. "That's weirs, it's not like her not to inform of her goings."

"Hey, Tyson." Hiro and Tyson's grandpa appeared to the door. "You got a letter." He showed an envelope.

"Hey, that's same kind of letter I got yesterday", Ray said.

If the team had been sleepy a minute ago, they were now all awake.

"O-ou."

Tyson quickly grabbed the paper from old man's hand and opened it. Others gathered behind him to see too.

"Good Tyson and the rest of the team, we've got your friend – This is exactly same as Ray's!"

"Hilary too? Aw man", Max sighed. "Is Boris that desperate?"

"It seems so", Kenny said.

Tyson crumpled the paper up in his hands. "Well this time he went little bit too far! Come on guys, we're going to find him!"

He stomped out of the room, past Hiro and Grandpa. Others hurried after him.

"Tyson sure got angry suddenly", Daichi commented.

"I suppose it's just his normal way of reacting when his friends are in trouble", Kenny said.

"Or then he just has a crush on Hilary", Max added.

"What!" Tyson yelled.

"Oh nothing, it's just seemed so since you suddenly got so mad after we received that letter", Max said innocently.

"Hey, if you guys are starting again this 'Tyson x Hilary' thing, you can stop right off", the young champion told.

"Sure, whatever", Max grinned.

Kenny chuckled. "Max, this isn't really a time for jokes."

"I couldn't resist."


The plot is starting to get more excited by the way! ... I suppose